Let me draw a parallel here:I make artwork (or so I've been told) by digital means (chiefly).The debate "digital vs. traditional art" is quite similar to this one.- digital is more accessible- digital is quickerSome say "that's not art; it can never rival with oil on canvas"If we have the means to do something BETTER and FASTER, is it not uttely stupid NOT to use them?

What the "new world weapons" lack is respect, but imagine 1000 years from now, when firearms will be the swords of today. It's just a matter of time.

Point Two:Whether it's with a thermonuclear bomb, a shotgun, a katana, a kitchen knife or a rusty nail, it's still killing. Do you think guns take the drama out of death?- Would one be more able to kill with a gun than a sword? Could very well be.- Would one be more willing to kill with a gun than a sword?

Conclusion time.Human civilization is all about evolution: we do things better and better, and we get better and better at doing things better.What we must avoid is being pinheaded.What we must remember is the memory of the ones before us, and that without them, we wouldn't be here.

i apologise here if it is straying a little from what people are saying, but can you shoot another bullet out of the air? it's almost impossible to do, however you can parry an attacking sword, so really guns are used simply for killing, where as a sword can be used for self defence

i apologise if this is goin a bit off what people have said, but when somebody swings a sword at you you can block it if you have training, however with a gun, no matter how much training you get, you can't shoot another bullet out of the air, also sword training is much more honourable, and if you have the patience to train with a sword then you have enough honour to not use it for killing, so how can people say that swords are made for killing. Again i apologise if this has gone off track of what people have said.

Gentlemen, I believe we are missing the point here. A sword is a weapon, just like a gun, weapons are meant for killing. No matter what you use, a gun, a club, a sword, etc its still an instrument to slain your fellow men. There is nothing honorable in murder. The honor is in your caracter, in your heart. Defense? You mean that you plan on parrying your EVERY ONE of your opponent's cuts? Please! Eventually you'd had to make a cut of your own to end the fight or you'd lost the duel. No matter how much you revere the blade, it is still an instrument of death, nothing more. Not much different than a gun or a bow.

i beleive that the sword is faster than the gun if used properly for the sole reason the gun stops and starts the sword is a continuouse motion. it took skill to weild a sword with that great of accuracy. now adays in a war the nukes do enough damage to targets they dont have to hit it for like a 6 mile radius. and no samurai may have bullied but the real thugs were ronin and ninja

going back a bit, when people are saying that samurai are thugs (i'm not saying i know alot about samurai) but the samurai lived by a code of honour they were tought that if they drew their sword and didn't kill anybody with it then you must comit suicide, while this sounds like being a bit sick, it teaches you not to draw your sword in anger, if i have got anythng wrong here then i apologise

Um Dale? Think about it for a second. If you can't draw your sword without killing someone, how do you clean it? How do you train? How do you have a new saya made? How do you have it polished?

The idea that they had to kill someone is just a silly idea. The idea that all samurai in all regions of Japan in all timeframes did anything the same way or had the same code of ethics is also silly. You need to do study up on history a bit.

We have a "code" we are to follow in the military too. Look at some of the stupid crap we pull.

I've also read in a couple different articles that the samurai's "code of honor" didn't originate until more peaceful times in Japan. Kind of a way to show their worth in a time when their "value" was diminishing due to living in a more peaceful period.

i dont believe that a weapon is innately honorable or that weapons have any honor at all, what i do believe is that the range of a weapon makes it better or worse, personal or impersonal, in other words all long range weapons **** . whats lost with a a bullet from sixty feet is the personal part of with a close rang weapon sword or even a gun you get to feel the pain and watch as life slips out of another but from twenty meters or in the case of bombs even more than that you lose most of that.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by seven7: whats lost with a a bullet from sixty feet is the personal part of with a close rang weapon sword or even a gun you get to feel the pain and watch as life slips out of another ...[/QUOTE]

Dude. Keep writing stuff like that and people are gonna start thinking you need thearpy.